In A Flash
by Litanya
Summary: Death affects different people in different ways, but how is Kari affected when someone close to her dies. Hints of Takari and hints of Taiora


Author's Note: I do NOT own Digimon, nor do I claim to own it. These are the ages of the characters:

Kari & T.K- 13

Tai, Sora, Matt & Mimi-15

Joe-16

Izzy- 14

**_In a Flash_**

Kari laughed along with her brother as they watched as their parents attempted to read the road map upside down. The Kamiya's had just moved to England after Mr. Kamiya accepted a new job. Tai and Kari had been upset at having to leave the other digidestined, but they knew that they would see them again. They had been in England for only a week, but already the two children could see that it wasn't as bad a place as they had thought. 

"Mum, you might have better luck with that map if you turn it up the other way," Mrs. Kamiya blushed as she realised that Tai was right. The mood inside the car was considerably greater than outside. The sky was dark as heavy rain clouds were covering the sun, soaking up all of the light for themselves and leaving the Earth no sunlight. The clouds were instead sprinkling the Earth below with their own gift; rain. Somewhere in the distance thunder rolled ominously, but the Kamiyas were happy, oblivious to the complaining weather outside. 

"I knew that Tai, I just wanted to see if you guys would realise. I know perfectly well where we are going," Mrs. Kamiya held the map up to her face, trying to hide her blush from the other members of the car. 

"Yeah right Mum!" Kari sat back in her seat and stared out of the window as the car rolled to a stop at a set of traffic lights. It was almost 5pm and Kari wanted to get to their new home quickly so that she could send an e-mail to T.K. Out of all of the digidestined, Kari missed him the most. Although they had been in England for a week, they had been living in 2 hotel rooms until their furniture was unpacked. That was why they still needed a map to get to their home. 

"I think that they got you there honey," Mr. Kamiya shot a glance at his wife and kids, blessing God for giving him his loving family. There was peace in the car, but that was soon shattered. A car that was going through the lights skidded on the wet surface. Kari could see the driver give the steering wheel a big turn to avoid it running into a car coming from the opposite direction. This only succeeded in making the car flip, and because the car had been traveling at a fast pace, it kept on flipping. The only problem for the Kamiyas was that it was heading straight for their car. They had no time to react before the car was on theirs, no time for anyone to duck. Kari instinctively threw her hands over her head and screamed, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference. She couldn't hear anything else but her scream, the sound of smashing glass, and a few bangs that frightened her to no end. She felt the roof collapse a bit over her head before she passed out from the shock.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

Tai heard Kari scream when the car landed on the roof, but he couldn't see her anymore, nor could he scream himself. He hadn't had time to throw his arms over his head before the metal roof above him collapsed, and he was knocked unconscious, feeling as though he was being crushed into a little ball.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

When Tai came to his senses again, he was still trapped inside of the car. Something was now sticking into his left side, and the pain seared all the way up and down the left side of his body. The car was collapsed around him; all he could see was metal. He was bent double as the roof of the car had pressed him down, and he was finding it extremely hard to breathe. He wanted to call out to Kari, but he was in so much pain that he couldn't. So he decided to pray instead.

_"Dear God, I know that I haven't exactly been a devout Christian, but I know that you are out there, watching over my family and __I.__ Lord, I only ask of you one thing- well, two things really. The first thing is… please watch over my family. My parents and my sister please let them live. They… they need to… they deserve to. I don't mind if I die, but please let them live! I know that everything you do is done for a reason, so I will understand if they do not survive, but Lord, I pray to you that they do. The second thing I ask is…" Tai trailed off as he was hit by another extreme wave of pain, and he struggled to breathe so that he could finish his prayer, __"I ask of thee Lord, please forgive me of all of my sins, as I didn't mean to commit them. These things I ask of you Lord, in faith. I know that you are merciful Lord, so please, I pray to you to help me by granting those two requests. In Jesus' name, Amen." After his prayer Tai felt better, even though he was still in a great deal of pain._

"Please forgive me Kari, I tried," he whispered hoarsely, before he closed his eyes and drifted into a sleep from which he would never wake………

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        

Kari heard a voice whisper to her whilst she was unconscious. Someone was begging her for forgiveness, in a pained voice. It sounded like her brother, but she was unsure of what he had to be sorry for. 

"I forgive you Tai," she whispered back in her mind. She was still unconscious though, and she had no idea of what was going on around her. She just assumed that everything was okay as she couldn't really remember the accident, and continued to slumber in her unconscious state.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        

When Kari regained consciousness she found that she was in a hospital bed. Her right arm was in a cast and it ached dully. Her head was pounding though, as if something had smashed into it and hard at that. On the other side of the room she could see her parents, each in a separate bed across from her. Her mother was pale and seemed to be sleeping. Her eyes were red and puffy, making it look like she had been crying. Her father was awake, one leg propped up in a cast. It looked like he had broken it. When he saw that Kari was awake, he smiled sadly, tears gathering in his eyes.

"Dad, what's going on? Why are we in hospital? Why are you crying? Where's Tai?" Kari asked all of the questions that popped into her head, not stopping long enough to give her father a chance to answer. At Kari's last question though, his tears started rolling down his cheeks and his smile had disappeared completely. Kari had a sinking feeling in her chest. "Dad? W-Where's Tai?" Mr. Kamiya just shook his head sadly.

"T-Tai didn't make it. H-He was killed in the accident," Kari couldn't believe what her father was saying. Tai, her kind older brother, bearer of the crest of Courage and the leader of the digidestined could _*not*_ be dead. It was impossible. But after seeing the look on her father's face, she knew that he was telling the truth. Hot tears cascaded down her face as she took in the news, still trying to deny the truth to herself. Tai had been the strongest person she had known. How could she have survived the crash if he hadn't, when he was obviously stronger? 

"Kari, are you alright?" she didn't answer her father's question, still too shocked over her brother's death. Instead she just closed her eyes and lay back again. She just felt like curling up into a little ball and crying her eyes out, but she didn't want to do that with people there to see her. She just contented herself with allowing her eyes to water and the occasional tear falling from her eyes. She couldn't believe that her brother, her guardian, was gone. At least now she knew what the whispered voice had meant. He had asked her for forgiveness because he was going to die. It still wasn't fair. Why did the Lord have to take away her brother, the only person who had been there for her all the time? She couldn't understand it. She was still agonizing over that very question when slumber overtook her.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        

Kari and her parents had to stay in the hospital for a week before they were let out. Kari still wouldn't say anything, refused to say anything. She lived in a state of shock, only punctuated by her parents' worried looks or questions. Everywhere she looked at their house she found something that reminded her of Tai. And she couldn't take it. She hated living in the city that her brother had lost his life in, hated the feeling that she now had because of her brother's absence. 

"Kari, your father and I have been talking and we've decided that we're going to move back to Odaiba. This place just has too many bad memories and we've only been here for two weeks. Do you mind honey?" Kari couldn't help but feel angry at her parents. Tai had only died because they had moved here, and now they were just moving back? Why had they bothered moving there in the first place? But Kari was also grateful to them at the same time. She couldn't handle all of the memories of that night… and if she continued to live there she would have to pass by the place of the accident everyday on her way to school. 

"The only problem is that we're going to have to have Tai's funeral here. That means that we won't be able to go and visit his grave," her father added. Kari hated the thought of abandoning Tai here, but she knew that he would understand. She just nodded to her parent's statement and left the room, starting to pack some of her things into a box. She picked up the whistle that Tai had given her when she was three. She had always had trouble speaking when other people were around, so he had given her the whistle.

_~FLASHBACK~_

_"Here you go Kari," a 7 year old Tai said, grinning his trademark grin. He was holding out a silver whistle that was on a pink string, so it could go around her neck, "Whenever you need to talk to me, are upset or just want attention, just blow this and I'll come. I promise you." Kari had taken the whistle and had placed it around her neck._

_"Thanks Tai! I pwomise that I'll use it when I'm in twouble," she replied, giving her goofy brother a hug, "and I know that you'll come help me! You're the best big bwother in the world!" Tai had just grinned again and ruffled her hair lovingly._

_~ END OF FLASHBACK~_

Kari struggled to hold back tears as she placed the whistle around her neck. She abandoned packing the rest of her things and flopped on her bed, her hands over her eyes. She was alone in her room and the door was shut. She could hear her parents talking in the living room, probably about her. She let the tears flow from her eyes, knowing that nobody would see her cry. She fingered one of the long scars that ran along the outside of her left arm. That was all of the injuries she had been left with after the accident. A few scars on her arms and a bump on the head. Her mother was in the same condition as she was, and her father was only in a worse condition because he had broken leg. They had all survived with basically no injuries at all, whilst Tai had had his life stolen away from him. Kari had seen their car, or at least what was left of it, after the accident. The seat in which Tai had been sitting had been completely crushed; the roof was almost touching the material of the seat. The left side of the car was also crushed inwards and so Tai had basically been boxed in. The doctors had said that it was a miracle that he hadn't died on impact. In fact, he had lasted half an hour before he had finally died. And all Kari had been left with was a couple of scars. Life was so not fair. 

Kari snapped out of her thoughts a few hours later when she heard something smash on the ground. It sounded like a plate, and she could hear her mother sobbing from the kitchen. She stood up and wiped the tears away from her eyes whilst she walked out into the kitchen to see her mother. Smashed on the ground was a picture frame. Inside it had been a picture of their family, but now the front of it was smashed.

"I-I was just packing a few things and this fell off," Mrs. Kamiya explained to her daughter after sensing her presence, "Do you remember the day this photo was taken? It was the family picnic last year, after you returned from the digital world. Tai was mucking around like usual and we were all having a good time…" she trailed off as her tears started flowing down her face faster and faster until she sat down on the ground and buried her head on her knees. Kari sat down beside her and took her by the shoulders. She picked up her whistle and blew it softly.

"That whistle……… you always loved it. You used that to speak sometimes, but only your brother could understand you," her mother continued as she tried to stop her tears, "We all tried, but…….. Oh, I can't believe that he's gone! My little angel. I'm just glad that I didn't lose you too Kari. I don't know what we would have done if that had happened." Kari's reply was to blow her whistle again, and this time her mother seemed to understand. "Yes Kari, I miss him too and I wonder why he had to be taken away from us. But I know that he is watching over us and that he would hate to see us crying. Come on Kari, we'd better get back to packing up again." With that the two Kamiya females got up off the floor and went back to their respective packing.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

Kari and her parents arrived back in Odaiba three weeks later, after attending Tai's funeral and packing again. Kari still hadn't spoken a word and the only way that she communicated was through her whistle, which her parents were beginning to understand the sound of. They weren't as good at understanding it as Tai had been, but at least they were getting there.

"Kari, you've got to get up! You have to go to school again today," Kari stirred as her mother's voice floated into her room. She didn't feel like getting up, didn't feel like facing people she didn't know, or those that she did. All she wanted to do was stay home away from anyone that may know her. But she couldn't do that. She got herself ready for school before going into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

"Good morning Kari, you ready for school?" Mari asked her daughter, knowing that it was going to be a tough day for her. Kari's reply was to blow on her whistle softly, as if she was saying that she didn't know. Mari just smiled and passed some toast to Kari, knowing that she would want to get to school on time on her first day. As Kari walked to school she couldn't help but notice things around her that reminded her of her brother. As she went past the park a soccer team was practicing, getting ready for their game on Saturday. It was only Monday, but they were still getting ready for the game.

_~Flashback~_

_An 8 year old Tai was kicking a soccer ball around their shared bedroom, concentrating on keeping it under his control._

_"Tai, what are you doing?" he looked up and grinned at his 6 year old sister, still keeping the ball under control. Kari came into the room, her whistle hanging around her neck._

_"I'm practicing for my next soccer game," he replied, stopping the ball quickly before starting the game again. Kari watched for another few seconds, amazed at her brother's skill._

_"Why are you practicing already? You only just played a game this morning and your next game isn't until next week," the pattern of black and white all blended into a blur for Kari as the ball rolled faster and faster. She found it fascinating that Tai managed to keep in under control and talk to her at the same time. She knew that she was lucky to have a brother as great as Tai._

_"If I don't keep on practicing then I'll lose all of my skill. To be good at something, you have to practice. If you don't then all of your dreams will never be achieved. Well, that's what my coach said anyway. But remember that whatever you do, you have to enjoy it. There's no point in doing something that is optional if you hate it. If you want something badly enough, all you have to do is work hard and you'll get it, eventually," his concentration shifted back to the ball and Kari continued to watch him, thinking about what he had said. She hadn't understood it, but at least she listened……_

_~END OF FLASHBACK~_

She shook her head to get rid of the memories, hating the fact that she wanted to cry. 

_'I will not cry, I will not cry,'_ she repeated in her head and her eyes stopped watering. She found that if she repeated the mantra over and over again in her head, the memories were kept at bay. The school wasn't very far from her apartment, so she arrived in less than five minutes. She had gone to this school ever since she was six, so the chances that she would know someone were very high. She knew that most of her friends would still be there, especially as she had only been gone for six weeks. Although she knew it was impossible, she just hoped that everybody would leave her alone. Like that was ever going to be possible.

"KARI! I thought that you had moved to England for at least two years? How are you?" as soon as she had stepped into the grounds of the school, one of her best friends, Steph, had already noticed her.

"Kari's back? Oh my God Kari! It's good to see you again! How have you been?" she was soon swamped by a group of her friends, hugging her and asking her all sorts of questions.

"Why are you back so soon? How was England, did it rain a lot? Did you and your family hate it there? Did..?" the questions went on and on, but Kari couldn't answer any of them. Even if she had been talking there was no time for her to reply. When the flow of questions finally dimmed down, Steph was unofficially elected question asker for the group.

"How are you Kari? You haven't said a word since you got here," Steph waited for a reply, but she got none, "Are you okay Kari?" Kari looked at the ground and tried to get away from them, knowing that they would only want answers. And she couldn't give them answers at that time. They let her go, knowing that something wasn't right. She went straight to the office and handed in the note that her mother had written for her, outlining to the staff at the school that Kari didn't speak. The principal, who had been walking in the door at the time, read the note with wide eyes. He had taught Tai back when Tai had been in year 2 and the principal had always admired his courage, even though he had found teaching him pretty tough.

"I understand Kari. I'll let your teachers know and they'll make sure that you won't need to talk. Is there anything I can do for you? I knew Tai too and he was one of my favourite students, even if he did play a few tricks on me now and then," he smiled as if he was caught in some memory of teaching Tai's class, but it was a sad smile. Kari shook her head at his question, before turning to exit the office, "Kari, I'm here if you need someone to help you." She nodded and left, not bumping into anyone she knew until she reached her classroom. It was empty except for one person. The one that she had been dreading to see the most. T.K. was sitting quietly at his desk, staring out of the window as if he was in a daydream. She tried to close the door quietly, but his eyes snapped to the door as if he knew someone was there.

"Kari? I thought that you were gone for two years! I mean, it's great to see you! How are you?" she looked past him, not wanting to look him in the eye, "Kari, what's wrong?" He could see that she was hurting over something, but he had no idea what. That's when he saw her arms.

"Kari, you didn't try to slit your wrists, did you?" Kari looked at him, confused, before she looked down at her arms. The scars that lined them looked like she had tried to kill herself. She shook her head madly, wanting him to know that she hadn't done that.

"Then what happened? And why aren't you speaking?" she stared at the ground, knowing that she would be unable to refuse answering if she looked into T.K's hope-filled eyes. And that would bring back her memories, which were already creeping back into her head. Just over there was the place where Tai had…

_'NO! I mustn't remember! I must keep the memories at bay otherwise I will collapse into tears right in the middle of the classroom!'_ she desperately tried to think of some way to get out of the situation and luckily at that moment the bell rang and the students poured into the classroom, with their form teacher ushering the slower boys in. They quickly took their seats and Kari walked up to her new teacher and gave her the copy of the same note that she had given in at the office. Her teacher glanced over it, before she nodded.

"I have already been told of your situation Kari, I just need to tell the class. Do you want me to tell them the reason?" the teacher asked her quietly, so that none of the other students could hear. Kari shook her head quickly, not wanting to hear that her brother was dead once again. It was bad enough trying to live with the fact.

"Alright everybody, we have a new student, although I know that most of you know her, since she only moved away about a month and a half ago. For those of you that don't know, this is Hikari Kamiya. Now, before all of you that know her throw questions at her, Kari cannot speak at the moment. That is why she can't answer your questions. But please don't think that she doesn't want to talk to you, it's because of something else. Kari, would you please take your seat," the teacher kindly announced and she took a seat next to T.K, the only spare seat in the room.

"Are you okay Kari? I'm sorry about asking you questions before; I didn't know that you couldn't speak. But you could always write down what you want to say," T.K suggested, getting out a pen and paper. It was form period, so they had half an hour to either study, talk or do anything they wanted, as long as it didn't break the school rules and they stayed in their form room. Kari picked up the blue pen and hesitated for a second.

_I __don't really know what to write_ she wrote, unsure of what he wanted to know. She knew that there were some questions that he was going to ask that she wouldn't answer, but other than that she didn't know what to say anyway.

"Why can't you speak? And why do you have scars all the way up your arms?" she froze. They were just the questions that she didn't want to answer, but she couldn't refuse T.K's questions for too long.

_I don't want to talk about it, too many memories._ He stared at her answer, feeling suddenly afraid as of what happened to her. He could tell that she didn't want to talk about it, so he changed the topic.

"How is your family? Is Tai glad to be back here?" instead of making her comfortable, it just seemed to make it worse. She gripped the pen tightly and T.K could see that she was forcing back tears.

_He's not here. I don't want to talk about it. That's where the bad memories come from._ She wouldn't write anymore. She handed his pen back to him and opened up an English book, trying to hide her watering eyes. After a minute she found that she wasn't going to stop herself from crying. She stood up and went to the teacher's desk, hurriedly scribbling a note. The teacher nodded at the piece of paper and Kari left the classroom and rushed to the girl's toilets, where she locked herself into one of the cubicles and cried her eyes out. She had thought that she had cried all of the tears that she possibly could, but she had been proven wrong. After ten minutes she finally had stopped crying, though her eyes were red and puffy. She splashed her face with water, hoping that it would make her eyes less red, but it didn't work. The bell rang, pushing her thoughts away. She had to go to Science, and she knew that he would be in her class. She just didn't know if she would be able to refuse his questions again.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

"Kari, over here!" T.K called to her at lunch, calling her over to a certain table. To her surprise he hadn't questioned her again, a fact that she was grateful for. He was sitting by himself at the table, and Kari felt the dread rising in her. This school went from years 7 through to 12 and they all had lunch at the same time. That meant that the other digidestined would be there and they would all question her. She could already see Matt and Izzy making their way to where T.K was sitting and she started to feel sick. Still, she didn't want to lose the digidestined as her friends, as much as this lunch would hurt. She made her way over to the table and sat next to T.K, still the silent ghost of the person that she used to be.

"Kari? You're back? But if you're here where's…" Matt was cut off by a sharp look from T.K.

"Kari can't talk at the moment. I don't know why, she wouldn't tell me, she told me that he is not here," Kari looked down, hating the fact that T.K was explaining things to Matt. She should be the one explaining things. She took out a pen and some paper from her bag and quickly scribbled something on it.

_Tai won't be coming here. He's still in England_. What she had written was technically true, Tai was still in England. Well, at least his body was. His spirit had fled the world a month ago, or so she believed.

"Why would he stay in England whilst you moved here? Your parents didn't divorce, did they?" Matt asked, watching Kari for a reaction.

_No, both of my parents are here with me. Tai is just in __England__. No more questions please. Bad memories. T.K read the message and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. He knew what had happened now, it all fit together._

"Kari, we need to know the truth. I know it must be hard for you to speak about, but we can't help you until we know what happened," T.K told her slowly and a loom of anger crossed her face.

_That's what the stupid psychologists told me. They even knew what happened. It doesn't work. My parents know what happened and they've been trying for a month to get me to talk, so don't tell me that it works, because it doesn't. There is only one person that I will talk to and now….. It's impossible_. Her pen had almost gone through the paper she had pressed so hard. T.K now knew the truth, or part of it.

"He died, didn't he? Tai died," Kari dropped her pen, not looking at anybody. Joe, Sora and Mimi had arrived at that moment, and Sora dropped her lunch on the ground. Matt and Izzy were watching the conversation curiously, both hoping that Kari would say no. She didn't reply.

"What is going on here? K-Kari, you're back? And what did you just say T.K?" Sora was shaking and she slowly lowered herself into the chair, unable to believe what was happening.

"I can take a guess at what happened. Kari has scars running up her arms, but she didn't try and commit suicide, that was the first thing she told me. Then she said that Tai is the only one that is still in England and that her parents are back here with her. She also keeps on saying things about bad memories. Oh, plus she doesn't speak and she said that the only person she wants to talk to, she can't. In other words an accident must have happened and Tai died, and Kari was injured. That is why they are back here, is that true?" they weren't aware of the fact that time had stopped until the noise around them just disappeared.

"Huh? What is going on?" Izzy called out loudly, looking around and seeing that everyone around them was still. Some people had their mouths open, as if they were talking and some were in the act of sitting down. The digidestined were the only people that were moving.

"Time's stopped, that's what is happening," Tai appeared out of nowhere and stood next to his sister, grinning his infamous grin. Kari looked up, her eyes wide.

"B-but Tai, you're dead… The car accident and…" Kari's voice was a little stiff from lack of use, but it still worked.

"Yes, I am dead, but that doesn't mean that you have to act like you are too! You are seriously worrying everyone here and at home and you're acting stupid. Do you think that I would want you to stop talking and basically stop communicating with everybody?" Tai berated his sister, forcing her to make eye contact with him.

"W-What's going on?" Sora asked, being the first digidestined other than Kari and Tai to recover from Tai's sudden appearance. She didn't want to believe that Tai was dead. She loved him and she always had.

"When we were in England and we were on our way to our house, we were in a car accident. It was completely not our fault, but the accident still happened. A car rolled over the top of ours and… well… it landed right where I was sitting. I died and then Kari stopped speaking and she only communicated with people using the whistle that I gave her when she was 5. It's been getting on my nerves, especially since she hasn't forgiven me for dying yet. I think that it's going to take a while," he was trying to cheer them all up, but it didn't work. Sora and Mimi promptly burst into tears and the boys were just staring at Tai, not knowing what to do or say.

"Why did you have to die Tai? Why couldn't it have been me instead?" Kari asked, tears forming once again in her eyes. She couldn't believe that she was actually talking to her brother.

"Maybe one day you'll know Kari. Now I have to go. Please continue to live your life like you were before I died, I hate it when you cry… I'll see you all later, sometime in the VERY distant future!" he faded away and time slowly returned to normal. Kari didn't care. She had been able to talk to her brother and that was all that counted. She promised that she would live her life normally again and she did. And far away in the Digital World, a certain digidestined of Courage, although dead, helped Gennai to train the next digidestined digimon. He still looked over Sora and Kari, for he loved them both more than life itself. But at least he knew that they were okay and that they were living life to the full. That was all that he could ever ask.

THE END

Okay, this fic sucked, but yeah. It was supposed to be a Takari and Taiora, but the romance didn't really come through. Anyway, please review! I have exams on Monday, so I probably won't write another fic until next Friday or maybe next Thursday, which is my birthday. Anyway, I'll see you all later!


End file.
